Sunday, December 10, 2006

Chaeostrophe: A Terence McKenna Moment

If we are to glorify the nomads in their altruism, that of leaving a piece of land so that the land does not become burned out, at once ensuring continued opportunity for abundance in our diets (speaking as an amateur anthropologist, here), then how is it we can point our fingers and shame those that would carry humanity to the stars whilst giving Mother Earth a chance to revive - or is it give ourselves a chance to avoid cataclysm - I honestly can't remember.

The rhetoric I always hear is, "Just leave this planet and go and ruin another one, huh?"

To that I say, no: we leave the planet to save this one and when the time comes, we leave that one too. We can be starseed and it just might be the most ecologically sound strategy for planetary rejuvenation, not to mention the most sound strategy for human survival. It truly is a win-win.

4 Comments:

"We" can't possibly leave this planet, since there are around 6 billion of "we" about the place these days, and rapidly increasing. There aren't enough resources to transport even a tiny percentage of teeming humanity Heavenward, even if there was a suitable planet within reasonable traveling distance.

Nope, we'll just have to stay put and figure out how to live here without destroying the neighborhood or the neighbors.

No one suggested that we destroy the neigborhood or the neighbors. I really don't think you absorbped what you read because the very point you attempt to make is addressed. I make it clear that destroying the planet is not only not the aim, but would be prevented by this pursuit.

Just another knee-jerk reaction, I guess.

As far as the resources are concerned, the amount of resources available to us, properly utilized, baffle the intellect. I sure you don't judge our level of resources based on what you see. Hoarding is rampant, not to mention the fact that rocks floating about in space are mineral rich of a magnitude to make this planet look like an empty cupboard.

As far as six billion people are concerned, no space program and indeed no program for the survival of humanity entails continued overcrowding. Spacefaring is not meant to take the place of humanity spreading consciously, instead of like some out of control fungus that couldn't keep to its petry dish.

These kind of issues prompt programmed responses galore and it is truly rare that I hear anyone comment on these issues that has really thought it out.

Hayduke, I like your blog and in general, I like your outlook but I must insist that you are wrong here. Why give up nomadism when we need it most?

I mean, if early nomads stayed in the same spot in order to learn how to not destroy it, or in order to learn how to get along with others in the same area, the spot would have become overused regardless of the intentions. I believe the conquering urge is what you get when the nomadic urge is stifled. It's the need for space, pun unintended unless on a Freudian level.

Agriculture is the ultimate in imposing an angular, Euclidean system on a non-Euclidean system, nature. Agriculture is also the result of there being nowhere else to go and with it comes the concept of property and ownership, hence land to defend and/or conquer. With nomadism, there is less of a sense of ownership which is the cause of greed. In order to want to own everything, one has to first come to know what it means to own.

What we need is to break the static mold and to return to living free in the flow. I highly recommend reading Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. It also just might illuminate, for readers, the essence of Abrahamic religions, putting them in their rightful perspective, in my opinion. Yes, it is all related, as what we believe translates into what we do.

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About Me

Short version: I'm not sure how much more eclectic a person can be but I am sure that a lot of individuals consider themselves to be more unique than most - a definite contradiction of course. I was born on the first day of the summer of love and I have been an activist, a geek, a hippie, a bit of a punk, a nomad, a sailor, and a bunch of stuff all in between. I have been a pagan, a buddhist, a zoroastrian, an atheist, blah blah. Labels aside, scanning my posts are a better guage of my interests than any paragraph I can write. Yet I am so much more. Aren't you? LONG VERSION